Caldwell County, Kentucky

Caldwell County
Caldwell County
County
	Caldwell County courthouse in Princeton
	Location within the U.S. state of Kentucky
	Kentucky's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 37°09′N 87°52′W / 37.15°N 87.87°W
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Founded	1809, 1809
Named for	John Caldwell
Seat	Princeton
Largest city	Princeton
Area
• Total	348 sq mi (900 km2)
• Land	345 sq mi (890 km2)
• Water	3.4 sq mi (9 km2) 1.0%
Population (2020)
• Total	12,649
• Estimate (2023)	12,551
• Density	36/sq mi (14/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st
Website	www.caldwellcounty.ky.gov

Caldwell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,649.^[1] Its county seat is Princeton.^[2] The county was formed in 1809 from Livingston County, Kentucky and named for John Caldwell, who participated in the George Rogers Clark Indian Campaign of 1786 and was the second lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Caldwell was a prohibition or dry county until 2013, when the citizens voted to lift the ban.

History

Caldwell County was formed from Livingston County in 1809. Prior to that, Caldwell County had been part of Christian, Logan, and Lincoln Counties — Lincoln County having been one of the three original counties of Kentucky.

In the early nineteenth-century, Caldwell County witnessed the passage of the forced migration of the Cherokee to the West on the Trail of Tears during Indian removal. The Cherokee camped for several weeks in Caldwell County during the winter of 1838, mainly at Big Springs, now in downtown Princeton; at Skin Frame Creek, and in the Centerville area near Fredonia.

In 1860, the construction of Princeton College began, but it was delayed by the Civil War. Strongly pro-Confederate and one of the counties that sent a secessionist delegate to the Russellville Convention, which signed an Ordinance of Secession forming the Confederate government of Kentucky. Confederate troops camped on the grounds of Princeton College in 1861, using one of its buildings as a hospital when Princeton came under Confederate control. Following the Confederate retreat in early 1862, however, Union soldiers occupied Princeton for the remainder of the war. In December 1864, raiding Kentucky Confederate cavalry commanded by General Hylan B. Lyon burned the Caldwell County courthouse in Princeton, since it was being used to house the Union garrison.

The expansion of railroads in the late nineteenth century made Princeton an important junction on several major railway lines, most notably the Illinois Central and the Louisville & Nashville.

By the turn of the century, an agricultural boom in Dark Fired Tobacco had made Caldwell County, along with Christian County, a major tobacco-growing area. It was part of what was called the "Black Patch", which used a special process to cure the tobacco. It included about 30 counties in western Kentucky and Tennessee. But the monopolization of the tobacco market by James B. Duke, who formed the American Tobacco Company, forced prices lower, leaving many farmers in debt and discontented.

In response, planters formed the Dark Tobacco District Planters' Protective Association of Kentucky and Tennessee (PPA), to work together in pooling their commodity in order to gain higher prices. They initially used persuasion to urge other farmers to join them.

Under the leadership of Dr. David Amoss of Cobb in Caldwell County, a vigilante force called the Night Riders was formed to strengthen the persuasion. The Night Riders terrorized those who cooperated with the tobacco company by destroying crops, burning warehouses, and attacking individuals. The Night Riders took over Princeton one night in December 1906, burning all of the Duke tobacco warehouses. They raided other towns, conducting similar raids and destroying resources. The "Black Patch Wars" came to an end around 1908, finally suppressed with the aid of the Kentucky state militia.

Since 1925, Caldwell County has housed the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center, a campus of the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture. The "UKREC" in Princeton is a leader in horticultural and biological sciences.

In the mid-twentieth century, Caldwell County began to shift from agriculture to industrialization. Caldwell County is still largely agricultural, but it is also home to factories such as Bremner, the largest private cookie and cracker factory in North America.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 348 square miles (900 km²), of which 345 square miles (890 km²) is land and 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) (1.0%) is water.^[3]

Adjacent counties

Crittenden County (northwest)
Webster County (northeast)
Hopkins County (northeast)
Christian County (southeast)
Trigg County (south)
Lyon County (southwest)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1810	4,268		—
1820	9,022		111.4%
1830	8,324		−7.7%
1840	10,365		24.5%
1850	13,048		25.9%
1860	9,318		−28.6%
1870	10,826		16.2%
1880	11,282		4.2%
1890	13,186		16.9%
1900	14,510		10.0%
1910	14,063		−3.1%
1920	13,975		−0.6%
1930	13,781		−1.4%
1940	14,499		5.2%
1950	13,199		−9.0%
1960	13,073		−1.0%
1970	13,179		0.8%
1980	13,473		2.2%
1990	13,232		−1.8%
2000	13,060		−1.3%
2010	12,984		−0.6%
2020	12,649		−2.6%
2023 (est.)	12,551	^[4]	−0.8%
U.S. Decennial Census^[5] 1790-1960^[6] 1900-1990^[7] 1990-2000^[8] 2010-2021^[1]

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 13,060 people, 5,431 households, and 3,801 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 per square mile (15/km²). There were 6,126 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (6.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.89% White, 4.81% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,431 households, out of which 28.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.10% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.00% were non-families. 27.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.40% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 26.30% from 45 to 64, and 18.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 92.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,686, and the median income for a family was $35,258. Males had a median income of $31,475 versus $20,390 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,264. About 12.20% of families and 15.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.40% of those under age 18 and 15.60% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Dawson Springs (mostly in Hopkins County)
Fredonia
Princeton (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

Bakers
Baldwin Ford
Black Hawk (partially in Trigg County)
The Bluff
Cedar Bluff
Claxton
Cobb
Cresswell
Crider
Crowtown
Dulaney
Enon
Farmersville
Flat Rock
Friendship
Fryer
Harper Ford
Hopson
Lake Shore
Lewistown
McGowan
Midway
Needmore
Otter Pond
Pumpkin Center
Quinn
Rufus
Scottsburg
Smith Ford
Tom Gray Ford
Walche Cut
White Sulphur

Politics

United States presidential election results for Caldwell County, Kentucky^[10]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	4,906	76.25%	1,433	22.27%	95	1.48%
2016	4,507	75.43%	1,260	21.09%	208	3.48%
2012	3,904	66.62%	1,852	31.60%	104	1.77%
2008	3,866	62.36%	2,212	35.68%	121	1.95%
2004	4,066	64.04%	2,245	35.36%	38	0.60%
2000	3,161	57.66%	2,223	40.55%	98	1.79%
1996	2,067	40.10%	2,434	47.22%	654	12.69%
1992	1,966	34.79%	3,000	53.09%	685	12.12%
1988	2,952	52.93%	2,564	45.97%	61	1.09%
1984	3,162	55.93%	2,427	42.93%	64	1.13%
1980	2,609	46.22%	2,924	51.80%	112	1.98%
1976	1,808	36.91%	3,016	61.56%	75	1.53%
1972	2,952	66.32%	1,345	30.22%	154	3.46%
1968	2,139	42.23%	1,439	28.41%	1,487	29.36%
1964	1,738	37.80%	2,831	61.57%	29	0.63%
1960	3,442	61.70%	2,137	38.30%	0	0.00%
1956	2,681	52.32%	2,417	47.17%	26	0.51%
1952	2,507	53.91%	2,133	45.87%	10	0.22%
1948	1,626	39.33%	2,210	53.46%	298	7.21%
1944	2,242	47.74%	2,444	52.04%	10	0.21%
1940	2,246	43.78%	2,858	55.71%	26	0.51%
1936	2,121	43.75%	2,699	55.67%	28	0.58%
1932	2,020	40.09%	2,971	58.96%	48	0.95%
1928	2,855	62.61%	1,695	37.17%	10	0.22%
1924	2,498	51.45%	2,183	44.96%	174	3.58%
1920	2,958	51.07%	2,746	47.41%	88	1.52%
1916	1,672	50.01%	1,605	48.01%	66	1.97%
1912	1,263	42.61%	1,231	41.53%	470	15.86%

Education

School districts include:^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Caldwell County, KY" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022. - Text list - For more detailed boundaries of the independent school districts see: "Appendix B: Maps Of Independent School Districts In Operation In FY 2014-FY 2015 Using 2005 Tax District Boundaries – Dawson Springs ISD" (PDF). Research Report No. 415 – Kentucky's Independent School Districts: A Primer. Frankfort, KY: Office of Education Accountability, Legislative Research Commission. September 15, 2015. p. 102 (PDF p. 116/174). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 10, 2020.